Hi everyone. One of the characters in my story is half human/half demon - a Cambion. Everything I can find on this mythical creature suggests that they are cunning, evil, alluring and manipulative. I certainly want these traits to be a part of him, but I want him to be good. (Essentially I want him to overcome his demonic side and do good). Is is too much of a stretch to do this? I know this is fantasy but I do want it to be as authentic as I can. Cheers!
Some of the best stories out there are about turning things upside down. So - why not? As long as it fits into your world and the rest of the story, it's fine.
Absolutely! I don't know anything about Cambions per se, but Jim Butcher (author of the Dresden files) wrote a story in which a hellion (which sounds pretty hardcore evil to an untrained ear like mine) reformed his hellion ways. The key is to make his emotional motivations powerful and--dare I use the term?--human. In fiction characters (whether they be robots, squirrels, cowardly lions, or hellions) are essentially human in their motivations, whatever their outside labels may declare.
You can do whatever you want to do, because it's your story. No-one can change your mind, so do what you think is best. Just as an aside, I think that originality is a good thing, so if what you're doing is out of the norm, then I applaud you.
What you are expressing, is somewhat close to Hellboy. He's half demon, half human (born to Sarah Hughes and a Demon Prince, but raise in hell until he was brought forward back to earth by the Nazis). So it's obviously been done before. The key for you, I'd think, is how you write it into your story. If you write it so that within the story it's believable enough, you can even have the abominable snowman.
Sure, go for it. I don't think it's too much of a stretch at all to have a half-demon strive to overcome his less human traits. In fact, if you write his inner conflicts just right, you might find that there's a ton of possibilities for character development. If your Cambion starts off already "reformed" in your story, your readers might find him uninteresting and not care for him very much. If you have him struggle to suppress his demonic instincts, it'll make him more interesting and, as you develop your character more and more, readers will start rooting for him.
InuYasha (an anime and manga) is a half-demon. He struggles with his demonic blood and is a bit gruff sometimes but he's basically good. I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination at all. I think it's a great idea for a story!
Nurture vs Nature? What does it mean to be a demon if you weren't raised demon? Your cambion may have no more internal struggle than anyone else, though I would guess he'd suffer from a certain amount of prejudice. But if that's true you need to ask yourself what is the essential demon nature. Why are they synonymous with evil? Did they just loose the war? Crappy PR people? Maybe it's the diet (could they switch to low fat souls)?
I think it is entirely possible, and I think it'd be an interesting read. For a twist you could have the Cambion discover that he was once a regular guy that was brainwashed. My main point is that it is a great idea, and you should do it just the way you have it now; change nothing. Great original idea.
